Former intelligence officer blows cover applying for new job with municipal police ({{commentsTotal}})

Applying for a position with the Tallinn Municipal Police, a former intelligence officer of the Estonian Information Board, Estonia's foreign intelligence agency, revealed in her CV that she had worked for the Information Board while her official cover was a position at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Estonian daily Postimees (link in Estonian) reported that among the 32 applicants for the position was a woman who revealed in her CV that she previously worked as an undercover intelligence officer for the Information Board whose official cover was a position as desk officer at the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

One security expert told Postimees that such indiscretion by a former intelligence officer was certainly an embarrassing blunder.

While the names of Information Board employees are known only to Director General Mikk Marran, intelligence officers under the protection of state secrets cannot lie about their past when applying for a position somewhere else. Thus it is acceptable to mention a background with the Information Board on one's CV, however the divulging of further details is regarded as condemnable.

The candidate's previous experience with the intelligence agency did not get her the job, however; the candidate ultimately chosen for the position was former Tallinn police prefect and Police and Border Guard College director Aivar Toompere, whose most recent public position was with the Ministry of the Interior, where his post was eliminated.